Sunday, November 23, 2014

Should
it be “iron clothes” or “press clothes”? What is the difference between
“uninterested” and “disinterested” and between “climatic” and “climactic”? Is
there a difference between “relatives” and “relations” and between “slippers”
and flip-flops”? Why is “clap for him/her” wrong and “clap him/her” right? Find
answers to these and other questions in this week’s column.

Question:

Between
“iron clothes” and “press clothes” which is more correct? We use these terms
interchangeably in Nigeria, but “press clothes” seems to be preferred by
not-too-educated people. Any thoughts?

Answer:

Both
terms are synonymous. That’s what all the dictionaries I consulted said. The
use of either expression is more an indication of preference than of level of
education. My own preference is “iron clothes.” That also seems to be the
preference of Americans among whom I live. I don’t recall ever hearing an
American say they’d “press their clothes.” They tend to prefer “iron” to
“press.”

Out of curiosity, I searched the Web to see if
I’ve been missing something. I found a website called “Daily Writing Tips”
where an Indian asked to know the difference
between “pressing” and “ironing.” There was no consensus among native
English speakers about what differences, if any, exist between the two
terms. They were all over the place. But two things stood out boldly in their
responses. One, “iron clothes” is the choice of most young people. Two, the
older generation uses “iron clothes” and “press clothes” interchangeably.

Question:

Is
there a difference between uninterested and disinterested? I had always thought
they were synonyms but someone I respect said they are different words. I
believed him until I read why a native speaker used the words interchangeably
in the same write-up. I’ll appreciate your take on these words.

Answer:

Uninterested
and disinterested are not synonyms. Uninterested means “not interested” (as in
“the students were uninterested in mathematics”) while “disinterested” means
impartial, unbiased, not affected by self-interest, etc. (as in “he is a
disinterested judge”). Many people, including native English speakers, confuse
these two words. Every year, about 90 percent of my students, who are native
English speakers, fail my question that tests their knowledge of the difference
between these two words.

I have also read well-regarded writers mix up
these words. But no dictionary I know of treats “uninterested” and
“disinterested” as synonyms. This could very well happen in the near future
since most users of the language, including native speakers, can’t tell the
words apart. But, for now, it’s safe to stick to the distinction between the
words.

Question:

Someone
just shocked me by saying it’s wrong to say “clap for him.” What’s wrong with
that expression?

Answer:

Several
other people called my attention to a Nigerian lady on Twitter (I can’t recall
her handle) who said “clap for him” as a synonym for “applaud” is wrong, and
that the correct expression is “clap him.” This isn’t the first time this
discussion has come up in Nigerian English grammar circles. Many other people
have pointed out that “clap” doesn’t admit of the preposition “of.” They are
partly right. All major English dictionaries support them. For instance, Oxford
Dictionary
defines “clap” as follows: “Strike the palms of (one’s hands) together
repeatedly, typically in order to applaud.” It gives the following usage
examples to illustrate the definition:

“Then
strolled out of the airport with my cousin who was clapping me on my performance.”

“Cars
hooted approval, crowds cheered and clapped
the heroes.”

“His
father Gordon, a former York City star, asked the congregation to stand for a
minute to applaud and clap Thomas,
and ‘say thank you for knowing him’.”

However,
the pragmatics (i.e., actual use) of the expression is different from its
dictionary definitions. American English speakers certainly say “clap for.”
This is attested to by the Corpus of
Contemporary American English, the definitive record of English usage
in the United States. I will give a few examples from the Corpus of instances
where “clap for” appeared in prestigious publications.

The
first example is from a 2012 New York
Times article titled “Assad Accepts Cease-Fire; Opponents Are Skeptical.”
In the article, this sentence appears: “They bring people on buses to clap for him and say that he killed all
the Free Syrian Army…”

Another
1996 New York Times article titled
“Name a New Musical Star” contains the following sentence: “And, in the
theater, they clap for Ms. Channing,
Ms. Andrews and Ms. Burnett as if they'd never seen a star before.

A
1994 San Francisco Chronicle article
also contains the following: “The fans began to clap for an Astros rally.”

I
found numerous other examples in popular media and well-regarded academic
journals where “clap for him/her,” not “clap him/her,” is used in place of
applaud. In fact, not only have I never heard any American say “clap him/her,”
the Americans I spoke with before writing this column told me “clap him/her”
sounds “weird” to them—as it does to most Nigerian English speakers.

Now,
does this mean the Twitter grammar lady is wrong? Absolutely no. My checks at
the British National Corpus shows that
British English speakers prefer “clap him/her” to “clap for him/her.” The
corpus bought up only one match for the expression “clap for,” and it appeared
during a TVchat where a host, on March
12, 1992, said: “ah let's all clap for
Neil, er, er what's he gon na do go off and have a boxing match?”

So
this looks like a dialectal variation.

Question:

What
is the difference between relative and relation? It seems to me that native English
speakers prefer “relative” to relation. Is “relation” Nigerian English?

Answer:

Both
terms are interchangeable. But I realize that when I say “my relations,” my
American friends have a hard time understanding me. Americans, especially in
the South, almost always say “my relatives.” I guess it’s because “relations”
has several other competing meanings, such as sexual intercourse, dealings, act
of narration, etc. “Relatives” has no such semantic burden, so it’s easily
associated with one’s flesh and blood.

But
“relations” is not a uniquely Nigerian English word. Nor is it wrong.

Question:

What
is the difference between climatic and climactic?

Answer:

Like
“uninterested” and “disinterested,” “climatic” and “climactic” are often
confused with each other. But, although they kind of sound alike, they have different
meanings. “Climatic” is the adjective related to “climate” (as in “climatic
changes will affect the eco system) while “climactic” (notice the “c” after
“a”) is the adjective related to “climax,” that is, the highest point of
anything, or the decisive moment in a work of fiction, or orgasm.

Question:

What’s
the difference between slippers and flip-flops?

Answer:

The
simplest way to answer this question for a Nigerian is to say American English
speakers use “flip-flops” where Nigerian and British English speakers would say
“slippers.” What Americans call “slippers” is completely different from what
Nigerians know as slippers. In American English slippers don’t have a string
between the big toe and the second toe. See pictures below:

These are called flip-flogs in American English; Nigerian (and British) English speakers know these as slippers

What you see above is what Americans call slippers

I
just recently learned that Hawaiians (Hawaii is a state in America that is
located outside the contiguous United States) use “slippers” the way Nigerian
and British English speakers use the word.

Question:

I
was conversing with a friend and I said “if to say." He said I was wrong,
that I should have said "had it been." Is he correct and why?

Answer:

Yes,
your friend is right. "If to say" is Nigerian Pidgin English
expression for “if I had” or “had I.” Interestingly, “if to say” has made its
way to mainstream Nigerian English. That’s probably why you didn’t recognize it
as odd.

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About Me

Dr. Farooq Kperogi is a professor, journalist, newspaper columnist, author, and blogger based in Greater Atlanta, USA. He received his Ph.D. in communication from Georgia State University's Department of Communication where he taught journalism for 5 years and won the top Ph.D. student prize called the "Outstanding Academic Achievement in Graduate Studies Award." He earned his Master of Science degree in communication (with a minor in English) from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and won the Outstanding Master's Student in Communication Award.

He earned his B.A. in Mass Communication (with minors in English and Political Science) from Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria, where he won the Nigerian Television Authority Prize for the Best Graduating Student.

Dr. Kperogi worked as a reporter and news editor, as a researcher/speech writer at the (Nigerian) President's office, and as a journalism lecturer at Kaduna Polytechnic and Ahmadu Bello University before relocating to the United States.

He was the Managing Editor of the Atlanta Review of Journalism History, a refereed academic journal. He was also Associate Director of Research at Georgia State University's Center for International Media Education (CIME).

He is currently an Associate Professor of Journalism and Emerging Media at the School of Communication and Media, Kennesaw State University, Georgia's fastest-growing and third largest university. (Kennesaw is a suburb of Atlanta). He also writes two weekly newspaper columns: "Notes From Atlanta" in the Abuja-based DailyTrust on Saturday (formerly Weekly Trust) and "Politics of Grammar" in the DailyTrust on Sunday (formerly Sunday Trust).

In April 2014 Dr. Kperogi was honored as the Outstanding Alumnus of the University of Louisiana's Department of Communication. His research has also won international awards, such as the 2016 Top-Rated Research Paper Award at the 17th Symposium on Online Journalism at the University of Texas, Austin, USA.